Willingness

As of last night, my son’s baseball team was undefeated. They had one more game to play before the post-season tournament. The team that they were playing had not won a game. (You can probably guess where this is going)

The boys struggled throughout and found themselves down two runs in the bottom of the last inning. With two outs and nobody on base, my boy was at the plate with a full count, 3-2. As all of the parents, players, coaches, and umpires watched the pitcher deliver the ball….STRIKE THREE! Right down the middle.

Grayson flashed a bit of an attitude and slammed his bat as the tears quickly formed in his eyes. I barked at him to “Knock it off”, the same way my dad did to me, one thousand four hundred and ninety two times after throwing a fit because I had been beat.

As the dust settled and the tears dried, I let Grayson know that I was proud of him. I think it was good for him to experience the sort of humility with losing a game that you know you should win. It was a great opportunity for him to move forward in the face of adversity. I also made it really clear that he did not invent the strikeout. He wasn’t the first kid to be the last out in a tight game and he won’t be the last….grown men get paid millions of dollars and do it all the time. (And many react just about the same way that Grayson did.)

Just last week, Grayson and I were discussing his frustration over a game that ended in a tie. He told me that to tie made him upset. He said that he wanted to win. He said he wanted to “Be the best”.

“You want to be the best?”, I asked him, which he firmly agreed. I then said,

“You know who else wants to be the best?”

“Everybody.”

“There is not a person in the world who doesn’t want to naturally be the best at everything they do.”

“Do you know how many of us have the willingness to work for it?”

“Almost none. Including me. I hope you find the willingness to be the best at whatever it is you want to be. I also hope that if you are not the best you know who is responsible.”

I have fields full of want but I can’t seem to find the willingness to cultivate them.

I have always had an excuse and almost never had the willingness.

Being the best starts with being willing to do what it takes to get there.